1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a readily applicable and removable handle for plastic grocery bags and grocery baskets, and more particularly to a handle which is especially comfortable in use, remains on the handles of the shopping bags when the bags are set down, and has an additional means to help keep all the items in the bags.
2. Prior Art/Problems
It is a common practice of grocery stores to provide bags to their patrons, so they may transport their purchases home. Most often the bags supplied are made of very thin plastic. These bags have a loop formed in the top portion on each side. These loops are meant to supply a crude handle, whereby one inserts one's hand in the recesses of both loops, and may carry the bags home.
Problem #1: [Pressure concentrated on only 2 fingers] To avoid pinched knuckles, most people carry bags with only 2 fingers. This doubles the load on the remaining fingers and puts even more pressure on the knuckles, reducing blood flow in the fingers even more.
Some handles are not rigid, so the handle bends down at the ends, pinches the knuckles, and puts all the pressure on two fingers.
Problem #2: [Pressure concentrated on the knuckles of the fingers] These bags have loops of very thin material. When a loaded bag is grasped, the fingers curl to retain it. This curling of the fingers forms a “V” at the top of each of the middle knuckles. The handles then settle in the bottom of this “V”. This causes the handles to condense to form a thin strand. When carried, these thin strands concentrate the load over a very small area of the middle knuckles of the hand. When the bag is heavily loaded, this concentrated load puts a lot of pressure on the knuckles. This reduces blood flow in the fingers, which causes pain and numbness in the fingers.
Some handles are not very thick (and/or rigid) so the weight is still concentrated on the knuckles
Problem #3: [Knuckles being pushed together] When a bag is very heavily loaded, the loops of the bag handles want to hang straight down from whatever they are hanging from. When one puts their hand in the recess of the loops, this forces the loops apart. The loops then counteract with an opposing force, to minimize the distance between the handles. This opposing force tends to squeeze the knuckles of the hand together, which can be very painful. This inward force is particularly painful for the index and pinkie finger. Consequently, what people usually do is to carry the bags with only the ring and middle finger.
Some handles are not very thick (and/or not rigid) so the weight of the bags still pulls the handle down at the ends, which pushes the knuckles together.
Problem #4: [A need to keep all of the plastic bag handles together] As one is leaving the checkout stand, one has to dig through a tangle of handles to pick up all the bags. Every time one sets these bags down, one has to go through this process to retrieve them all over again. Many people may need to set the bags down at least several times on their way home-such as when they put the bags in their car; or when they get to their door, (and have to retrieve their keys). [There have been many times I have thought I picked up every handle of the bags. Then I discovered that one was missing, and the contents of that bag spilled all over the ground, breaking any bottle it contained.] Even if one does find every handle, it is time consuming and irritating, especially if one has to keep setting the bags down because the handles hurt as one is walking home.
Some other bag handles have a way to support the weight of the bags, but these handles do not stay on the plastic bag handles when the groceries are put down (no locking mechanism).
Problem #5: A desire to keep multiple handles of grocery bags together in one grip.
Some bag handles do not have a very big storage area for handles, so they don't accommodate many handles well.
Problem #6-A: A desire to find a way to keep all the contents in the bag—a way to restrict the neck of the bags. All of the handles (that have a way to keep all the plastic bag handles together) tend to stay affixed to the Top of each of the handles of the plastic bags. While it is an advantage to keep all of the plastic bag handles together, this does nothing to close the large openings in the ‘necks’ (opening in each loop) or ‘mouth’ (main opening of the bags) of the plastic bags.
Even when the bag handles are kept together in one handle, it may still be possible for the bag(s) to tip over. The necks of the bags are larger (necessarily must be) than the items that are put in it. So if the bag tips over, and the items are smaller (necessarily must be) than the neck of the bags, they may fall out of the bags. This is especially a problem when the bags are in the trunk of a car (or on the seat of a car), and are jostled by the movement of the vehicle. Small round items (such as fruit) are particularly prone to roll out of the bags so jostled.
NO OTHER PRIOR ART I HAVE COME ACROSS EVEN MENTIONS THIS PROBLEM, LET ALONE ADDRESSES IT.
“OK (you may ask), why not just tie the loops together at the top to prevent items from coming out of the necks/mouth of the bag? You would be correct, this would be one way to keep the items in the bags. However, when one ties the loops together at the top, the (knot of the tie) is only able to go down the necks a certain amount. This often leaves pockets of trapped air inside the bag, so small items at the bottom of the bag can still move around, and food containers can tip to the side. [If food containers tip to the side they are likely to spill sauce on the bottom of the bag—and, if there is a hole in the bag—on the person carrying the bag.] This trapped air in the bags leads to Problem#6-B . . .
Problem #6-B: [Find a way to keep items from moving around in the bag.] Find a way to minimize items (such as glass bottles or very small items) from hitting each other; or food containers (like those for Chinese food) from popping open or turning over.
NO OTHER PRIOR ART I HAVE COME ACROSS EVEN MENTIONS THIS PROBLEM, LET ALONE ADDRESSES IT.
Problem #7: [Way to keep keys accessible] I don't know about anyone else, but I have a bad habit of putting my key ring on one of my fingers (or in my hand), then picking up the handles of the bags. I do this at the checkout stand-as I will need the keys handy to get into my car. I also do this when I put the bags in my car- to avoid leaving my keys in my trunk. I usually need two hands to gather all of the bag handles together, and to carry all of the bags. This means that when I get to my car and to my door, I must put all the bags down to retrieve my keys. [Once again I must sift through the tangle of bag handles to carry them inside!]
Some handles have a way to attach a key ring to the handle, but it is not necessarily easy to attach and detach the key ring from the handle, leading to problem #8.
Problem #8: One could attach a key ring directly to a handle that is used to carry loaded plastic grocery bags. The problem with that is—that when a handle is used to keep the bag handles together, the handle should logically be left on the handles when the bags are put in the trunk of one's car. Since one needs the keys to start one's car, the key ring must be detached from the handle every time one puts bags in one's trunk. If one has many keys on their key ring, (or if the means to attach the key ring to the handle is very thick), this could take awhile, and become tedious very quickly.
I HAVEN'T SEEN ANY PRIOR ART THAT MENTIONS OR ADDRESSES THIS PROBLEM.